Broken Darkness
by Iccirrion
Summary: Becoming a Darkling doesn't kill you. (One shot-During and after the events of Echoes)


The Space Pirate took a step back, not out of fear, but because he didn't want to turn his back on the creatures approaching him and his comrades. They were massive, almost 12 feet tall; pitch black spider-like creatures with a bundle of glowing orange eyes that stared down at them as they screeched from their invisible mouths.

The Ing. The greatest threat the Pirates had met on Aether, some would even say in the galaxy, but Samus was hard to outdo, but the Ing were trying. They possessed their fellow Pirates, destroyed their supplies and lived somewhere where even the atmosphere was deadly.

Syris and his fellow commandos had been one of the first squads equipped with prototype dark plating to allow them to survive the atmosphere of the Dark planet, and subsequently the first sent in to map the areas beyond the portal. It hadn't gone well, they had made a lot of progress without meeting any resistance, but that soon proved to be part of the Ings' plan. Cut off from any access to a portal and with a swarm of warrior Ing slowly advancing towards them, it looked hopeless.

And hopeless it was. They tried to fight back, they were the best the Space Pirates had after all, but they were no match against the ferociousness of the Ing horde. One by one Syris' companions were defeated, not killed, as hunter Ing emerged from the shadows, floating over the Pirates before turning into a purple liquid that engulfed the commandos leaving an evil imitation in their place.

Syris was the last to go down, he tried to run back, make a last sprint for the nearest portal, but he was never to make it, a hunter Ing appeared in front of him, phasing out of time whenever he tried to kill it. It blocked his way for a few moments, seemingly amused at Syris' attempts to hurt it, before it charged, completely engulfing Syris as he was covered in the purple liquid.

It was the worst type of pain Syris had ever known. Even if he was a Space Pirate, the hive mind wasn't all controlling, the forceful severing of a mind and body is not something easily dealt with. Syris screamed in his mind as he felt himself stand up, examining his new body, turning to his old squad, all now with a strange look in their eyes. They were the best the Pirates had to offer, yet they had been dealt with so easily.

Syris' mental exile lasted for what felt like years to him, but could only have been a few weeks at most. His body followed the same routine over and over. He would alternate between patrolling the light and dark worlds, destroying threats to the hive, massacring his old friends without even flinching.

Until, eventually, Samus Aran arrived. Syris had secretly hoped she would, ever since he had been possessed, the Hunter might stand a chance, the Hunter might be able to avenge his squad, the Hunter might destroy the Dark horde.

And she did, fighting her way through the dark world in a campaign to annihilate the Horde. Several times, Syris himself found himself fighting Samus, but fleeing before either of them could be defeated.

And then, Samus won. Syris didn't know how or when, but the Ing inside him left, panicking about its king, but Syris didn't care, he was free again.

Regaining control of his body was not an easy task, he returned, his body refusing to obey him, as his mind struggled to deal with the sudden abundance of stimuli he had been denied for so long.

For days he just lay, gibbering, as fear, relief, sorrow and gratitude bounced around in his head. Eventually he was found by one of the creatures of light, the first to have fought the Ing, they helped him, brought his mind back into order, and set out a new path in front of him.

The Luminoth had no real need of a soldier such as Syris, but their new Federation allies were quick to give him a place. He had been saved by the Hunter and the Federation, not by his Pirate brethren, he would help fight back against the darkness he had spent so long in.

Syris looked up at the sky as he prepared to leave the planet, he couldn't say he would miss it, the shadows on this planet still seemed to emanate an aura of evil, and the light seemed too bright.

_**This was just a short one-shot I wrote up in about half an hour based on a character I created for an RP. I just decided to write a bit on it during a break from writing for some of my other stories. If you have any questions or comments, please leave a review or send me a PM, I'll always make an effort to get back to you.**_


End file.
